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Tuesday 16 September 2003

The World Today is a comprehensive current affairs program which backgrounds, analyses, interprets and encourages debate on events and issues of interest and importance to all Australians. Below is the program summary with links to transcripts and audio (if available).

Breakthrough in medical research on heart disease in men

First today, to what a team of Australian researchers are hailing as a worldwide medical breakthrough – the discovery of why men have a much higher rate of coronary heart disease than women. Five times more men than women die from coronary disease. Originally it was thought the female hormone oestrogen may have protected women from heart disease. But the new research shows that it is in fact the presence of male sex hormones which make an individual more vulnerable to coronary failure.

ATSIC head condemns QLD public drunkenness laws

The head of ATSIC has condemned new laws on public drunkenness in Queensland, claiming they unfairly target Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. The proposed changes would see methylated spirits defined as liquor, if it's being consumed, and police would be given the power to confiscate unopened alcohol.

Gambling addiction encourages employees to steal from bosses

Problem gambling is well known as a trigger for theft – often from family and friends. But now some new research suggests that problem gamblers are also stealing from their employers. The research from the University of Technology in Sydney reveals that gambling is the second biggest motivator for employees to steal from their boss, and that many people justify their theft by convincing themselves that they're simply borrowing the money.

Reserve Bank worried about housing bubble and consumer debt

Still with money matters, our top economic bureaucrat has backed the Reserve Bank's concerns about soaring house prices and consumer debt. In a speech in Canberra today, the Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry has identified record consumer debt levels and the housing bubble as short-term risks to the economy.

Simon Crean urges colleagues to stand united

The Federal Opposition leader Simon Crean is today urging his Labor colleagues to maintain internal discipline and focus their opposition on the Government. Mr Crean's appeal comes as he continues his attack on the Prime Minister's credibility over the war in Iraq. But the latest polls, showing continuing poor personal poll results, indicate that Mr Crean's own leadership credentials are suffering, as Matt Brown reports from Canberra.

Australia opposed to Zimbabwe rejoining the Commonwealth

Australia has been accused of megaphone diplomacy by South Africa over its continued opposition to Zimbabwe rejoining the Commonwealth. South Africa is now threatening to join Nigeria in an attempt to overturn Zimbabwe's suspension from the international body, saying that the ban has achieved nothing. A spokesman for the South African President Thabo Mbeki, Bheki Khumalo, says Zimbabwe should be included in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Nigeria next month.

WTO failure may increase anti-Western sentiment

A leading international analyst has warned that the failure of the WTO trade talks on agriculture this week in Mexico could boost anti-Western sentiments and fuel the ideology of terrorists. Hernando De Soto is the founder and President of the Institute of Liberty and Democracy in Peru, and once served as an economist for the GATT – the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the forerunner to the WTO. Mr De Soto says the failure of the trade talks is not a disaster, but he doesn't expect much movement in favour of the developing nations until after elections in the US and the UK.

Suffrage centenary sculpture for Parliament House scrapped

It started out as a 21-metre high fan sculpture, then scaled down to 18 metres, and finally the plan was for a 14-metre red steel fan, for the lawns between the Old and New Parliament Houses, to celebrate the centenary of women's suffrage. In exactly three month's time, it'll be 100 years since women were given the chance to vote in a federal election and stand for federal parliament. But the Federal Government has scrapped the project, saying the artists weren't able to fulfil their obligations of producing the public artwork within budget and on time. Commissioned for half a million dollars, the cost has now blown out to one million.

Vanstone blames budget blowout for suffrage sculpture scrapping

Australian backpackers escape from Colombian guerrillas

"Lucky" – that's how the Department of Foreign Affairs described three Australians who escaped unharmed from kidnappers in Columbia. The trio was spared by FARC guerrillas who took eight other tourists hostage from an ancient archaeological site in the country's north. Colombian troops are still searching mountainous jungle for the missing foreigners.

South Koreans campaign for return of kidnapped relatives

In South Korea, the families of people kidnapped by the communist North have begun a campaign to get their loved ones returned. It's one of the most audacious crimes of recent history, but the South Korean Government refuses to do anything about it, as North Asia Correspondent Mark Simkin reports from Seoul.